14 
CUBA AND THE CUBANOS, ETC. 
CUBA AND THE CUBANOS. 
We had occasion to notice in our last num¬ 
ber, the enterprise and liberality of the government 
of Cuba. We are now happy to add the following 
testimonial of the high character of the planters of 
that island, from the intelligent American traveller, 
Mr. McCulloch, of Philadelphia, who has recently 
visited them. We are so intimately connected 
with them in commerce, that our interests are in 
many respects identical. We cannot fail, therefore, 
to feel a deep interest in all that concerns this in¬ 
telligent and enterprising neighbor. 
“The planters of Cuba, whether we judge them 
by the progress made in improvements, by the skill 
exercised in the operations of manufactures, by the 
judicious management of their estates, or by the 
information and intelligence they display, must cer¬ 
tainly be considered the equals of our own fellow 
citizens, and that they do not realize far greater 
profits from their industry, is to be attributed, not 
to inferiority, but to the tyranny of Spain. 
“ I should be unjust to the Creole population of 
Cuba, to the humble montero as well as to the 
wealthy planter, if I were to say of them that they 
are our inferiors. They are no mongrel race, like 
the population of Mexico. The purest blood of 
ancient Spain flows unmingled in their veins. 
The ashes of Columbus repose in the cathedral of 
Havana, and the people of the island are worthy 
descendants of his followers. I have observed 
them carefully, and I know them well, for I have 
been under their roofs and among them long 
enough to become acquainted with them. They 
inherit and by nature are endowed with the noblest 
faculties. In his hut made of the wood, and 
thatched with the leaves of the royal palm (palma 
real), the poorest montero welcomes and presents 
you to his family with the manners of a polished 
gentleman, unconsciously displaying those domes¬ 
tic and social virtues which dignify and exalt hu¬ 
man nature, however humble the lot of their pos¬ 
sessor. Between the educated and refined society 
of Cuba, and that of our southern states, an Ameri¬ 
can will perceive no difference but that they speak 
another language. And on a plantation in Cuba, 
if he be familiar with southern life in our own 
country, he will find himself perfectly at home. 
Indeed, were he not surrounded by tropical plants 
and scenery, and constantly listening to the sounds 
of a foreign tongue, he might readily imagine him¬ 
self to be still in the land of his birth.” 
Composition of Bones. —Nearly two thirds of 
the weight of recent bones is earthy matter, princi¬ 
pally carbonate and phosphate of lime; the other 
third consists of a peculiar animal substance called 
gelatine , some oil or fat, and a variable quantity of 
moisture. For all practical purposes, in manuring 
land, the phosphate of lime may be taken, on an 
average of 50 per cent., or one half of the fresh bones. 
Guano—in What its Value Consists. —Guano 
is chiefly valuable for the ammonia and phosphate 
of lime it contains. That from Peru certainly 
owes its greatest efficacy to its large proportion 
of ammoniacal salts ; but some other kinds, as that 
from Saldanha Bajp, must be considered, in the main, 
only for its phosphoric acid. 
REARING- LAMBS. 
Like all other young stock, lambs ought to be 
kept steadily growing, without getting too fat. 
Where a healthy, strong, and young ewe has a good 
range of pasture, the lamb may acquire so much 
fat as seriously to interfere with its thrift, when 
taken away and put upon its winter’s food. Ex¬ 
perienced flock masters say they have frequently 
lost lambs from this cause, and that when a ewe 
has twins, and the milk is divided between the off- 
spring, this loss never occurs. This is an impor¬ 
tant fact for the practical man. 
It is well to have the lambs accustomed to dry 
forage before they are put up for the winter, If 
good, sweet hay, dry clover, or oats in the sheaf* 
or threshed, be thrown out to a few old sheep, sur¬ 
rounded by all the lambs, while the latter are in 
fine condition, brisk and lively, they will at once 
begin to nibble at the dry food, and soon will be en¬ 
tirely familiar with and enjoy it. If left, however 8 
till weaned, and they have become pinched by the 
snows and frosts of approaching winter, and the 
scarcity and insipidity of autumnal forage, their 
stomachs are in a weak or diseased condition, they 
have no appetite for their new dry food, they stay 
away from the racks, and daily become weaker and 
more indisposed, and soon have become too far re¬ 
duced to recover, or if they survive, it is with a 
constitution permanently impaired. 
WIRE FENCES. 
I am glad to see the attention of farmers turned 
to this subject, as I believe at no distant day wire 
fence must become the leading kind generally over 
the Union. It is true that there is a difficulty in 
fencing against hogs, but even that can be over¬ 
come without much trouble as is hereafter sug¬ 
gested. 
I have never yet had any made, but intend to 
make a sample next spring. I have given, the 
subject, however, a good deal of thought, and made 
inquiries and figures thereupon. From some small 
experiments I have made, there can be no doubt 
but my figures are mainly correct. I shall use No, 
11 wire, cedar posts, as they are the most durable* 
and shall set them six rods apart, making the fence 
five strands high. The post being set, I should be¬ 
gin by boring an inch hole through each, at eighteen 
inches from the ground; then another hole eight 
inches from that, the next ten inches; then twelve 
inches; then fourteen inches, making the fence 
five feet, two inches high. After the wires have 
been drawn through and strained tight, drive plugs 
into the holes at each side to hold them in their 
places. Between each post, and one rod apart, drive 
down a stake, saw into it opposite each wire, per¬ 
haps an inch, lay in the wire, and drive in a shingle 
nail to keep it in its place. It would be less 
trouble to drive a small spike into the post and 
wind the wire round it by one turn, rather than to 
bore the holes ; though the expense would even be 
more. 
The wire ought to be prepared in the same man¬ 
ner that it is for bridges, boiled in linseed oil for a 
quarter of an hour, and then dried, and the same 
process repeated three times. This anneals and at, 
the same time coats the wire, and saves painting it. 
If, however, there be but a small quantity to pu 
